U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry have announced that Israel and Hamas have agreed to a 72-hour humanitarian cease-fire in Gaza.

The cease-fire is scheduled to begin at 8 a.m. local time on Friday and continue through the weekend. Its goal is to allow Gazans a momentary reprieve to obtain urgently needed humanitarian relief, the parties said in a joint statement.

This cease-fire is critical to giving innocent civilians a much-needed reprieve from violence. During this period, civilians in Gaza will receive urgently needed humanitarian relief, and the opportunity to carry out vital functions, including burying the dead, taking care of the injured, and restocking food supplies. Overdue repairs on essential water and energy infrastructure could also continue during this period.

At least 1,441 Palestinians have been killed, three-quarters of them civilians, since hostilities began on July 8, according to Gaza health officials. That surpasses the low-end estimate of 1,410 Palestinian deaths in Israel's 2009 invasion, according to Palestinian rights groups.

Israel says 56 soldiers, two Israeli civilians and a Thai agricultural worker have died. That's also far more than the 13 Israeli deaths in the previous campaign. On Thursday alone, more than 100 rockets were fired toward Israeli cities, the army said. As the toll has grown over the past few weeks, U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay has accused both Israel and Hamas militants of violating the rules of war.

Before word of the cease-fire, Israeli attacks continued Thursday, killing at least 56 Palestinians, according to Gaza health officials.

A view of Gaza on Thursday

0731 Gaza In Photos

Palestinians take shelter in a U.N. school in Gaza City. Nearly 1,900 Palestinians, who escaped from their homes under heavy Israeli shelling, live in the school.

Image: Onur Coban/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

A displaced Palestinian boy looks out from a makeshift tent at the al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City where many Palestinians have taken refuge after fleeing Israeli attacks. More than 220,000 Palestinians are being sheltered in U.N. facilities.

Image: Mahmud Hams/AFP/Getty Images

Palestinians gather around the wreckage of a minibus after it was hit by an Israeli strike in Gaza City.

Image: Mustafa Hassona/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

Blood stains the ground after a man was heavily injured when his car was hit by an Israeli air strike in Gaza City.

Image: Onur Coban/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

A Palestinian medic shouts for help in front of an apartment building on fire after an Israeli strike in Rafah. A woman was killed and her husband was wounded in the strike, according to a Gaza health official.

Image: Hatem Ali/Associated Press

The sister of Mohammed al-Daeri, who died in an Israeli attack, mourns during his funeral in Gaza City.

Image: Mahmud Hams/AFP/Getty Images

The mother and a friend of 4-year-old Shuruk, who was critically injured during an Israeli airstrike in Jabalia two days ago, sit beside her bed in the children's ward of a hospital in Beit Lahia.

Image: Oliver Weiken/EPA

Smoke rises after an Israeli strike hit the offices of the Hamas movement's al-Aqsa satellite TV station in Gaza City.

Mashable
is a global, multi-platform media and entertainment company. Powered by its own proprietary technology, Mashable is the go-to source for tech, digital culture and entertainment content for its dedicated and influential audience around the globe.